I have been AWOL due to Uni work... and a lack of web credit as I'm poor.

Good to see this thread is still going. When I returnith home in approximately 31 moons I shall be active once again.

I have a couple of really good Q's (after reading a few more chapters).

I'll just throw these out there (but it's still JediGuy's turn.)

(1/ What is Mount Doom's other name? 2/ What does Sam think of himself if he were to claim the ring for himself and challenge Sauron? 3/ What does Sam find as he enters the gate guarded by the "watchers"?)

The magical rings made by Celebrimbor and the MÃ­rdain of Eregion in the middle years of the Second Age, made unwittingly under the secret guidance and tutelage of Sauron. Most famous among them were the Three Rings of the Elves, Narya, Nenya and Vilya, the Rings of Fire, Water and Air. These were the only three made free of the influence of Sauron, though they too fell under the power of his One Ring.

After Sauron made his Ring, he invaded the lands of the MÃ­rdain for the recovery of the Elven-rings. His armies overwhelmed Eregion, and he gathered most of the rings to himself, but four of the Great Rings were lost to him. One (later known as the Ring of ThrÃ³r) was held by Durin III, King of the impregnable Dwarf-city of Khazad-dÃ»m in the Misty Mountains. Nenya the Ring of Water was carried eastward from Eregion by Galadriel, who crossed the mountains and settled in the land of LÃ³rien. Narya and Vilya had already been sent into the north by Celebrimbor, and were in the safekeeping of High King Gil-galad.

Galadriel kept her Elven-ring throughout the later years of the Second Age, and the duration of the Third. Gil-galad gave his rings to lords in his service - Narya to CÃ­rdan at the Grey Havens, and Vilya to Elrond, who used it to found a haven of his own against Sauron in the midst of Eriador - Imladris, that Men came to call Rivendell. CÃ­rdan, too, passed on his Ring, to a Grey stranger who sailed into his havens out of the West, who would came to be known in later legends as Mithrandir, or Gandalf.

With the destruction of Sauron's One Ring in the last years of the Third Age, all the other Elven-rings lost their power, including the Three. Those who had borne their power through the ages since their forging left Middle-earth together on the White Ship; Galadriel, Elrond and Gandalf, the Keepers of the Three Rings.

Who does Gandalf go to see and talk to after finally leaving the hobbits when they are returning home and what are the metaphors (i think) Gandalf uses to describe himself and the person he goes to see?

who says: Dragons steal gold and jewels, you know, from men and elves and dwarves, wherever they can find them; and they guard their plunder as long as they live (which is practically for ever, unless they are killed), and never enjoy a brass ring of it."

Can I just jump back a bit in the order of things and have a go at some questions posted awhile ago that got overlooked?

1/ What is Mount Doom's other name?
Orodruin. Does it have any more names though?

2/ What does Sam think of himself if he were to claim the ring for himself and challenge Sauron?
He would become a great gardener I think? Having control over all the gardens in Middle Earth or something.

3/ What does Sam find as he enters the gate guarded by the "watchers"?
Well, there's that impenetrable force of will that stops him from entering. And the dead orcs. Can't remember if there's anything else of significance.